title: No evidence of perfusion abnormalities in the basal ganglia of a patient with generalized chorea-ballism and polycythaemia vera: analysis using subtraction SPECT co-registered to MRI.
abstract: Polycythaemia vera is a well-known cause of symptomatic chorea, however, the pathophysiology of this correlation remains unclear. We report on a patient with generalized chorea-ballism associated with polycythaemia vera, and we present the findings of 99mTc-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (HMPAO) SPECT done in both the choreic state and the non-choreic state. The SPECT during both the choreic and the non-choreic states did not reveal any definite perfusion changes in specific regions of the brain, as compared with 6 age-matched controls. In addition, the subtraction SPECT co-registered to MRI (SISCOM) analysis did not show any difference in cerebral blood flow during the choreic and non-choreic states. This result suggests that the basic mechanism of chorea associated with polycythaemia vera does not appear to be associated with a reduction in cerebral perfusion to a specific cerebral area, such as the basal ganglia or its thalamocortical connections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, National Cancer Center, Koyang-city, Kyunggi-province, South Korea.
authors.forename: Woojun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Joong-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kwang-Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yeong-In
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chong-Won
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yong-An
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D002819:Chorea / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011086:Polycythemia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*